Relevant Rants

Last Sunday I spoke about a Bible character that I didn’t know a lot about before then: Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law.

What I like about the story is just how real Jethro is. While Jethro had the opportunity to build a relationship with Moses, it was Moses who brought Jethro closer to God. There are a lot of “Jethros” in our world.  These are people who are unknown to the masses, but who are significant behind the scenes and making a big impact.

 You are not insignificant. You can have the same positive impact on someone today by doing even a few simple things:

•  Let someone know their life is important
• Say a positive word
• Commit a random act of kindness

Check out the podcast if you want to learn more about Jethro and check out our True Grit series this Sunday as we cover True Humility and on the 31st True Influence.

Since some of you may be interested, I’ll let ‘er rip.

My family – including my kids and granddaughter – went to a cottage on Burt Lake up North. A usual day for me consisted of:

• Spending some time with God
• Working out
• Going on the lake
• Pulling my sons on wakeboards through channels on the Crooked River (this was crazy, because we were in a narrow part of the river, it wasn’t for the weary!)
• Maybe even working out again
• Reading (I read The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and Craig Groeschel’s The Christian Atheist. I’ll share more on these books soon, but in addition to reading for “work” I read Falling in Love is Not Enough: Keeping Your Love Alive Forever. I met the author recently and will be sharing more about my conversation with him here.)
• Spending time with my fabulous wife
• Going out to eat

And I did that every day.

Some people use vacations as a time to completely melt into their lawn chairs and not move an inch. And that works for some, but I have to make exercise a part of my life and that includes vacation.  The day before we left, I walked 1.2 miles up hill, then ran 6.5 miles. That’s over a 10K and I wasn’t even exhausted!  Exercise will help me on my goal to accomplish more in the latter 1/3 of my life than in the first 2/3.

If I’m not in good physical shape, I can’t take the demands of the three experiences we’ll be doing come this Fall at The River. I need to have good mental, physical and spiritual shape to be the husband, father and leader I need to be. It’s just not an option for me.

What’s the point of all of this? Getting away is a time to regroup, reconnect and refresh to get ready for new challenges.

 What about you? How do you use your “abandoning” time this summer to recharge?

Image via

As I get back from vacation, I wanted to share a guest blog from a woman who I’m getting to know with her husband through a Life Group here at The River: Kara Follman.

Take it away Kara…

In retrospect, putting on a red dress and a white headband (to hold back my curly RED hair) to go to the store with my family recently was a bad idea. My boys (starting with the big one I married!) found it hilarious to compare me to Annie, even though, technically my sons have never seen the movie. What’s hilarious to their Daddy is always hilarious to them.

Since I was in a “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” mood,” at bedtime I sang the song “Tomorrow” to my youngest son. When he asked for the song for a third time, I thought I was obviously either a.) really belting it out like a Broadway star or b.) he was angling for a delay to his bed time. It was more likely  “b” because while I love to sing and do it all the time, my lack of any discernable voice talent ensures only my family gets the “joy” of hearing me outside the confines of my car.

But it made me think about Terry’s message a few weeks ago about what it means to judge and how in this situation I may actually be able to learn something myself (and not just how to sign up for singing lessons!). The message has really resonated with me the last couple of weeks as I’ve been on several planes and there’s nothing  that makes someone want to judge others than being in a confined tube, filled with recycled air. I tried to focus on this:

• Keeping the right perspective: My sons are 3 and 4. And since birth, we’ve been nurturing and helping them grow, but one of the most important roles we play as parents is giving them values to act as a guide for their lives. We do it through the word and making it a regular family practice to pray together so when they’re on their own, they have a basis to develop a Godly perspective.
• Making appropriate comparisons: These boys are at the age where they still think their mommy is the best singer in the world and they don’t pay attention much to the fact that other kids at preschool and church may look different from them. But when does that change? When do they begin to have something to compare it to? I hope that we can help them on their way to develop comparisons appropriately, based on what they know about God.
• If you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all: I love how in our house we keep things fun and light; and that includes making fun of ourselves when appropriate. But If I had mocked myself to my son repeatedly about how disappointed I was in my bad voice, or how I wanted to lose weight, over time that may impact his own self image or how how he sees me. Imagine if I pointed those criticisms at him? It all starts with choosing to speak and then choosing my words carefully.

This really hit it home for me:

James 2:12 says, “Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.”

I’m very much a work in progress in this respect and fail every day. I hope you’ll join me as I work on my perspective and to figure out how to look at others like they’re “shining like the top of the Chrysler building!”

Leapin’ lizards!

Aren’t rhetorical questions fun? Don’t they make you think?

 Rhetorical Question  Noun – A question asked without expecting an answer but for the sake of emphasis or effect.

I’ve had some of those questions swirling in my head lately thinking about what it means to be a follower of Christ.

What does it mean to be a Christian?

 What does it mean to be born again?

 It’s important to think about these questions not only as rhetorical but to reflect on what they mean in your life. People can say they believe in God and not actually have faith.

 Now, it’s important to note, I’m not being judgmental here. Hopefully you’ve heard me say at The River that’s not the point of true inner reflection and love for others. I want to point out something to make you think.

Are you experiencing true change in your life?

Are you looking more like Christ each day?

Do you have the character and traits in your life that make people think you’re a Christian?

 I’m just processing and thinking.

 A lot of people are 7-11 Christians or followers out of convenience who don’t take the time to dig deeper. What about you? (and that’s not rhetorical, I want to hear what you think!)